Fact Check

Dick Smith Statement About Halal Certifications as 'Extortion'

A viral email purportedly relaying Australian grocer Dick Smith's views on halal certification contains mostly misinformation.

Published June 8, 2016

Claim:
Dick Smith penned an email to customers denigrating the Muslim religion.

A viral email purportedly relaying a message from Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith, the founder of Dick Smith Foods, in which the grocer denigrates the Muslim religion and speaks of a conspiracy of extortion, has been circulating since at least 2014.

While the email starts with an actual quote from Dick Smith regarding Halal certification, the bulk of this viral message was penned by an unknown party. The portion written by Smith starts with "We have received a number of letters..." and ends with "this money would be better spent continuing to support important charitable causes where assistance is greatly needed." Smith's statement does not include any derogatory comments about Muslims. Instead, the grocer simply states that they would rather avoid "unnecessarily increasing" their costs in order to pay for Halal certification.

Shortly after Smith posted his message regarding Halal certification to his web site, the message started circulating via email along with an additional segment that was not written by the grocer:

We point out that we have never been asked to put a Christian symbol (or any other religious symbol) on our food requiring that we send money to a Christian organization for the right to do so.

Others would add that money paid to ANY Muslim 'organization' (and you had better believe it: these people ARE 'organized') can easily find its way into the hands of Islamic extremist-fanatics and murderers, irrespective of assurances to the contrary.

What other assurances do we accept from Muslims?

Oh, that's right, 'Islam is a religion of PEACE'!

How less Australian can companies get, than to place money into the hands of those who seek to exploit us?"

This is an example of how the leaders of Muslims in Australia/NewZealand are bullying large commercial organizations (especially in the food industry) into paying what is no more than blatant extortion money. The amazing part is that these weak-kneed organizations (Cadbury/ Schweppes/ Nestles/ Kraft etc.) actually pay the large sums demanded by these self-appointed religious bureaucrats.

Of course, the manufacturers promptly pass this levy on to unwitting consumers as cost increases. Next time you buy a block of Cadbury's chocolate, look for the Halal Certification seal on the wrapper. So, regardless of your own religious faith, you end up subsidizing Islam.
The Council also controls the Muslim voter bloc which, as yet, does not have sufficient critical mass to make a difference - but give them time.

Several state jurisdictions are under pressure to adopt or permit Sharia Law in Marriage, Family and Property matters and some, under the delusion that they are being progressively liberal, are permitting this. This has already happened in some local authorities in the U.K. Google the U.K. Education Department's current investigation into the conduct of Muslim-run schools in the Birmingham area of England.

How many more warnings do people need?

Check the produce on the shelf and don't buy anything Muslim extorted.

The section quoted above was not written by Dick Smith, and was not included in any original messages from either the company or the entrepreneur himself. On 19 December 2014, Dick Smith Foods responded to the message which had been incorrectly attributed to them:

Dick Smith Foods has been made aware of information that is currently being circulated which claims to quote Dick Smith. The emails and Facebook posts refer to Halal food certification and, whilst a few parts of the email that is being circulated are correctly quoted, additional words have been fabricated which are not Dick Smith’s view at all.

Dick Smith did post a message explaining that the grocery store was not adding halal-certified labels in 2014, but for financial reasons rather than ideological ones. A rant about Islam was later attached to this statement, then incorrectly attributed to the Australian grocer.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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